News Release

July 30, 2012

Northwest faculty to direct ‘An Enchanting Evening’

Maryville Young Players (MYP), the growing theater group led by Northwest Missouri State University faculty Vanessa Parsons and Pat Immel, has announced a second show for 2012. But this time, MYP directors, volunteers, parents and alumni are taking the stage.

Maryville Young Players will present “An Enchanting Evening” at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, and Saturday, Aug. 4, in the Studio Theatre at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts.

Tickets are required, and may be reserved by sending an email to MaryvilleYoungPlayers@gmail.com. A suggested donation of $15 per ticket will benefit Maryville Young Players.

“An Enchanting Evening” will feature songs and scenes from Broadway hits, including “Camelot,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Shrek the Musical.”

Maryville Young Players was founded in 2007 by Parsons, music instructor at Northwest’s Horace Mann Laboratory School, and Immel, associate professor of theater at Northwest, as a way to introduce children and youth to musical theater while keeping them involved with the arts during summer months. The local children in grades second through ninth annually produce a large scale musical production, but “An Enchanting Evening” is MYP’s first foray beyond children’s theater.

“Every year, we joke about the adults taking a turn on stage after the kids do their performance, so we thought we would give it a shot this year,” Parsons said. “By using a review format, we’re able to give our audience a wide variety of music and give our performers the freedom to pick from a number of different shows.”

Additionally, the show will include an intermission with coffee and dessert served by current members of MYP.

“We wanted to create a more intimate setting with this show, so we decided to use the new Studio Theater and limit our seating to the first 100 for each performance,” Immel said. “It really showcases the flexibility of our performance space at the Houston Center.”